IT TAKES TWO: It’s a busy season for the Karl Lagerfeld brand, which is gearing up for the worldwide launch on Oct. 19 of a men’s and women’s capsule with Puma. It caps the sports brand’s Suede 50 program of collaborations marking the 50th anniversary of its original Suede sneaker. While originally focused on the shoe, the project grew into a 13-piece capsule fusing the brands’ respective codes.
Items include a women’s cropped T-shirt and jumpsuit based on Puma’s archive T7 tracksuit with 7-mm. stripes. Men’s pieces include a slim-fit hoodie with matching sweatpants and logo T-shirts. A backpack, shoulder bag and baseball cap sport custom Karl Lagerfeld x Puma branding, with prices for the capsule ranging from 40 euros to 175 euros.
The line includes two unisex Suede sneakers inspired by Lagerfeld’s personal style: a tuxedo jacket, high white collar, tie and sunglasses — reinterpreted through graphics, say, or in playful details like removable sunglasses.
The collection will be available for pre-sale at karl.com and puma.com from Oct. 18, rolling out to Karl Lagerfeld and Puma stores as well as selected retailers worldwide the next day.
Other brands and personalities to have collaborated on Puma’s Suede 50 program across 2017 and 2018 include Ferrari, Michael Lau, Sonra and Stampd. The launch of the Karl Lagerfeld capsule will fall three days after the official 50th anniversary of the shoe.
Karl Lagerfeld’s retail network includes more than 95 monobrand points of sale worldwide, plus a premium wholesale presence in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The brand’s e-commerce site operates in 96 countries.
Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Puma Group distributes its products in more than 120 countries and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide.
Other collaborations under way this season for the Karl Lagerfeld brand, meanwhile, include a just-launched capsule with model Kaia Gerber and a soon-to-launch hook-up with high-end French silverware brand Christofle.